Lord CHELWOODasked Her Majesty's Government:
What reply has been sent to the appeal to the Prime Minister from 52 Czechoslovaks, some of them Members of Charter 77, urging that the trial of Dr. Jaroslav Sabata, detained since 1st October, be held in public and attended by foreign observers and lawyers and asking where he is in custody, with what he is charged and when and where he is to be tried.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)Mr. Jaroslav Sabata was brought to trial on 11th January, 1979 in Trutnov on charges of threatening and slandering a public official. He was found guilty and sentenced the same day to nine months' imprisonment. The Prime Minister's Office wrote on 5th January in reply to the appeal made about Mr. Sabata's case reaffirming the Prime Minister's concern at actions taken by the Czechoslovak authorities against defenders of human rights, and confirming that it was the policy of Her Majesty's Government to take every suitable opportunity 1151WA to draw the attention of the Czechoslovak authorities to public concern in this country at aspects of their policies which are not consistent with the provisions of the CSCE Final Act.